Celebs in the ER Add to Pressure on Docs -- Surgeons Say They Have to Ignore Media Frenzy to Operate Smoothly

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ABCNews

For doctors operating on high-profile patients like Sen. Ted Kennedy, an ability to ignore the hype and focus on the surgery at hand could mean the difference between life and death, doctors say.

"[Patients] all look the same on the inside," said New York-based cardiologist Dr. Wayne Isom, who performed Regis Philbin's triple bypass surgery in 2007. "And it's when doctors start trying to treat someone differently because of who they are that gets them into trouble."